Soon He Will Come
by Gigabomb
Summary: Gaara, Haku, hints of Zabuza x Haku and Naruto x Gaara. Spoilers for the timejump. Gaara dies, but he isn't alone in purgatory.


Author's Note: ... okay. There's some more atheist stuff here, but it's an atheist in purgatory, so it balances out. One thing: I'm agnostic, not atheist, so stop nagging me about shoving my godless beliefs on other people. Thank you. Written on request from ladyonyx.

Gaara had never considered that there might actually be an afterlife, be it heaven or hell, for that would imply there was a god. He had seen too many atrocities in his comparatively short life to believe that there was anything approaching a benevolent deity watching over the world, and seeing as the only alternatives to a benevolent god were either a sadistic omnipotent being, or nothing at all, Gaara had always been predisposed to the latter. For one thing, it kept him from hoping for salvation, and in the end forced him to seek salvation himself.

It hadn't quite worked, but he had still gotten a great deal closer than he could have hoped for. He wasn't sorry to have died. He just wished he had died protecting his village, instead of as a victim of the Akatsuki. It seemed like such a waste, to die to benefit one's enemy.

But he hadn't had any say in the matter, and now he was here, which, as far as Gaara could tell, wasn't anywhere at all. It was… grey. And endless. And empty.

Well, almost.

Gaara stared, with no self-consciousness to speak of, at the long-haired, delicate being before him. Androgyny wasn't something he had ever been particularly aware of, seeing as he could usually tell a person's gender by their smell alone, but that particular sense seemed to have abandoned him, in this place of infinite nothingness. The simple kimono the being wore didn't simplify matters.

"Who are you?"

The being smiled gently. "Does it really matter here?" The voice, which usually lent some clue, provided Gaara with no hint this time around.

Did it matter? Of course it did. How else was Gaara to know whether he was facing someone who meant him harm or not? "It does to me."

This time when the being spoke, there was a hint of laughter in its voice. "My name is Haku."

"And why are you here with me?"

The being tilted its head, considering, but the smile didn't fade. "I'm waiting for someone. Isn't that why you're here, scarlet-san?"

"No." His answer was honest, but it still bothered Gaara. He didn't know why he was here. He had initially assumed that this was just where people went after they died, but that didn't explain why he and this Haku were the only ones here.

Haku was still looking at him. "You are the first person I've seen since I've arrived in purgatory. You must be here for the same reason I am."

Gaara frowned, and arbitrarily decided Haku was male so he could stop thinking of the being as an it (he had been objectified enough in his childhood to abhor doing so to others), though it wasn't a steadfast fact as of yet. Haku had too many mannerisms that reminded Gaara of the pink-haired girl he had met in Konoha three years ago to be completely sure of the other person's gender. "How long has that been?"

Haku was still smiling as he replied, "Three and a half years."

Gaara felt something crawl down the back of his neck, though his expression remained bland. One of his worst recurring nightmares during one of his sporadic naps over the course of his lifetime involved him waking up and finding that the village was empty, except for him. It was one of the few things that made him feel almost human in the overwhelming terror that made him wake up gasping and covered in sweat. Gaara liked feeling human; just not enough to want to dream of loneliness.

This Haku… he'd been alone for years. He'd been living Gaara's nightmare.

Gaara couldn't believe anyone would do so willingly. "It can't be worth it. After that long, whoever you are waiting for isn't coming."

Haku's smile turned wistful. "He said he would try. I always have the option to move on, but I don't want to do so without him. You have the option too, if you are here. So why didn't you? Who are you waiting for?"

"I'm not waiting for anyone. No one is coming for me." It hurt to say so, but Gaara knew it was true. Kankuro and Temari had the village to worry about. They couldn't waste time on him.

But Haku was shaking his head, smiling still. "You're lying, scarlet-san, even if you don't know it. You wouldn't be here if someone wasn't coming for you. Purgatory exists for those who wait. And whoever you are waiting for… he will come. I'm sure of it."

"Naruto probably doesn't even know what happened." Why he had spoken of Naruto instead of his siblings, Gaara didn't know. Except that Naruto had saved him once. Perhaps Gaara did have an unconscious hope that the blond Leaf-nin would do so again. But Gaara doubted it. It was unlikely Naruto thought of him as often as he thought of Naruto, if at all. He hadn't done anything for Naruto except try and kill him. Gaara sure didn't waste a thought for all the would-be assassins who had been sent after him over the years. So even if Naruto did know, there was no reason he would come for Gaara.

But for some reason, Haku's eyes brightened at the sound of Naruto's name. "Naruto-kun? He is your precious person?"

Maybe it was where they were. Maybe it was that for once in his life, Gaara couldn't hear Shukaku eating away at the edges of his mind, and didn't feel the need to guard himself so tightly. But whatever it was, he answered as he never would have, had he been alive. "He is mine. I am not his."

Haku was shaking his head even as Gaara spoke. "You're wrong, scarlet-san. I knew Naruto-kun, once. If you know Naruto-kun, if he is your precious person, then you are his. Not the only one, maybe, but you are his. He will come for you."

Haku had known Naruto. Somehow, Gaara completely failed to be surprised. Naruto was loved by everyone, as far as he knew. How could anyone do otherwise, when a monster like Gaara did so himself? But still… "How can you be sure?"

"Because he is coming now."

Haku smiled, still, but his eyes were dark. "Two days you've waited, scarlet-san. I envy you, but not enough to ruin this for you." He turned away, and something in the set of his shoulders made concrete Gaara's assumption that Haku was a boy. Too restrained, too suppressed, to be anything else. Temari never stood like that, but Kankuro did. "I will see you again, scarlet-san, though I hope not for a very long time. Goodbye. I wish you well." And then he was gone.

For several moments, there was silence. And Gaara stood there, alone in the endless grey, the doubt in his mind growing with every passing second. How could Haku know that Naruto was coming? Could Naruto be dead as well? Or had Haku been lying, and now all that was left for Gaara was… nothing.

Maybe…

"Gaara!"

He turned.

_END_


End file.
